This year's haze which has blanketed Malaysia, Singapore and large expanses of Indonesia is on a trajectory similar to 1997 - widely regarded as the most serious haze event on record - and could exceed those unprecedented levels according to Robert Field, a Columbia University scientist based at Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
"If the forecasts for a longer dry season hold, this suggests 2015 will rank among the most severe events on record."
Herry Purnomo, a haze expert at the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research, agreed the situation was akin to 1997, describing the magnitude of this year's fires as "horrendous".
The fires also contribute significantly to climate change. The Nasa-linked Global Fire Emissions Database has estimated around 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases have been released as a result of this year's fires - roughly equivalent to Germany's entire annual output.
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